The present invention generally relates to packaging apparatus and, in a preferred embodiment thereof, more particularly relates to a specially designed carton/pad packing assembly, and associated methods, for protecting a water heater during shipping and handling thereof.
Subsequent to its manufacture, a water heater is typically packaged for shipment from its manufacturing location, the packaging serving to protect the water heater during shipment and subsequent handling. A conventional method of packaging a water heater, which normally has a vertically oriented cylindrical shape, is to simply place it in a cardboard box which closely surrounds it in a manner such that the four vertical side walls of the box touch or are closely adjacent the vertical side surface of the packaged water heater, and the upper and lower ends of the box are closely adjacent the top and bottom ends of the packaged water heater.
While this traditional approach to packaging a water heater is widely used and constitutes a simple and relatively low cost packaging method, it carries with it several well known problems, limitations and disadvantages. For example, in a typical line of water heaters the overall diameters vary. Thus, for each water heater of a different diameter a different size packaging box must be provided.
Additionally, a considerable amount of care must typically be exercised to avoid damage to the packaged water heater during handling thereof. For example, fork lifts are often used to move the packaged water heaters from place to place. If the packaged water heater is not carefully tilted to allow the fork lift blades to pass under it, the tips of the fork lift blades can easily be driven through the box and dent the water heater therein. Furthermore, this type of conventional packaging prevents the use of squeeze plates to lift and move the packaged water heater since the horizontally movable squeeze plates could also easily dent the packaged water heater. Another limitation associated with this conventional water packaging technique is that it does not provide the ability to vertically stack the packaged water heaters, and thereby requires more storage floor space for a given number of packaged water heaters.
As can be readily seen from the foregoing, a need exists for improved water heater packaging apparatus and associated methods which eliminate or at least substantially reduce the above-mentioned problems, limitations and disadvantages commonly associated with conventional water heater packaging apparatus and methods of the type generally described above. It is to this need that the present invention is directed.